With the Huskies in the playoff, how much will Chris Petersen and UW’s coaches make in bonus money?

Washington’s success this season not only netted the Huskies their first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff. It will also allow UW’s coaches to cash in on a number of performance incentives included in their contracts, with the entire staff already earning upwards of $1.2 million in combined bonuses.

Head coach Chris Petersen obviously stands to profit the most. Already, he has earned $150,000 for winning the Pac-12 championship ($50,000 for appearing in the title game and $100,000 for winning it), as well as another $400,000 for appearing in a College Football Playoff semifinal. Petersen is also due $125,000 in exchange for the Huskies achieving a team Academic Progress Rate (APR) score of 970 or better. UW checked in at 974.

Each of UW’s nine assistant coaches are due $5,000 for the APR score, plus $16,000 for winning the Pac-12 title game ($6,000 for appearing and $10,000 for winning it), and another $45,000 each for appearing in the College Football Playoff semifinal ($20,000 for playing in a CFP bowl, and another $25,000 for that bowl being a national semifinal -- slightly different language than Petersen’s contract. I verified this with a UW spokesperson).

So, each UW assistant is already due a total of $66,000, with the potential to earn another $25,000 each for a CFP title game appearance (or $30,000 instead for winning the national championship). Petersen would make an additional $450,000 if UW were to beat Alabama and advance to the national title game (or $500,000 instead for winning the national championship).

As it is, Petersen has already earned a total of $675,000 in bonuses, and his staff of nine assistants have earned a combined $594,000 for a staff total of $1.269 million. If UW beats Alabama, the school will owe the coaching staff at least an additional $675,000, with that figure potentially rising to $770,000 with a victory in the national championship game.

The maximum amount of total bonus money the UW coaching staff could earn is $2.039 million -- $1.175 million for Petersen, and $96,000 for each of UW’s nine assistants. The Huskies are two victories away from making that happen.

About Christian Caple

A proud native of Longview, Wash., Christian
Caple joins The News Tribune after covering Washington State football
and men's basketball for two years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane
(though he lived in Pullman). He is a 2010 graduate of the University
of Washington, an avid NWAACC basketball fan, and is unsure how to
proceed now that Breaking Bad is over.